improving education quality in south asia (i)...learning-centred pedagogy could look like for...

IMPROVING EDUCATION QUALITY

IN SOUTH ASIA (I):A REVIEW OF UNICEF’S EFFORTS

© United Nations Children‘s Fund, Regional Office for South Asia 2018

Author: Suzana Brinkmann, PhD

Cover Photo: © UNICEF/UNI141630/Vishwanathan

Disclaimer: This mapping report presents the author’s analysis of views expressed by UNICEF staff, partners, and reports. Any conclusion stated herein are those of the author and not necessarily representative of or endorsed by UNICEF.

Suggested citation for this report: Brinkmann, S. (2018). Improving education quality in South Asia: A review of UNICEF’s efforts. Kathmandu: UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia.

For further information, please contact:

UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia P.O. Box 5815 Lekhnath Marg Kathmandu, Nepal Telephone: 977-1-4417082 Fax: 977-1-4418466/ 4419479 Website: www.unicef.org/rosa

CONTENTSAcknowledgements iii

Acronyms iv

Executive Summary v

I. From Schooling to Learning 2-111. Context: The learning crisis in South Asia 32. UNICEF’s global response: strengthening systems to strengthen learning 53. Purpose and methodology of this mapping 73. Re-defining quality 9

II. Regional Overview: Initiatives for Improving Education Quality 12-33Overview of UNICEF’s quality support in south Asia 14Afghanistan 18Bangladesh 20Bhutan 22India 24Maldives 26Nepal 28Pakistan 30Sri Lanka 32

III. Lessons: How can we Improve Learning in South Asia? 34-531. Regional barriers to learning 362. Key drivers of success for quality initiatives 383. Key lessons learned 404. Status of CFS in South Asia 425. Leverage points for shifts in pedagogy 486. Leverage points for enhancing learning 51

IV. Recommendations for UNICEF’s Efforts to Strengthen Learning in South Asia 54-681. UNICEF’s unique positioning: strengths and limitations 562. Recommendations for UNICEF COs 593. Recommendations for ROSA support 644. Recommendations for further research 665. Conclusion 68

Appendices 69-801. People surveyed and interviewed for the mapping 702. Tools for surveys and interviews 723. Sample response overviews from UNICEF surveys 744. Extract of sample entries from the taxonomy 755. Overview of quality initiatives listed in the taxonomy 77

Bibliography 81

ii

BOXESBox 1: Restructuring teacher education in India 37

Box 2: School self-assessment in Nepal 38

Box 3: Strengthening educational governance in Maharashtra, India 39

Box 4: Teacher-led CFS Network in Chennai, India 49

Box 5: On-site coaching of teachers in activity-based learning programme, India 50

Box 6: Building systemic capacity for analysis and use of learning data in Pakistan 52

Box 7: Empowering parents to demand quality learning in India 53

Box 8: Strengthening accountability through monitoring in Nepal 53

Box 9: Generating evidence to support equity-oriented advocacy in Pakistan 57

FIGURESFig 1: Overview of UNICEF’s education programming in South Asia 14

Fig 2: Overview of survey reponses on UNICEF’s systemic impact 16

Fig 3: UNICEF survey reponses on disadvantaged groups most impacted by UNICEF initiatives 17

TABLESTable 1: Definition of ‘Quality Education’ used in the present mapping 11

Table 2: CFS Initiatives in different South Asian countries 43

Table 3: Evaluations of CFS programmes in different South Asian countries 45

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Much appreciation goes to all of the UNICEF South Asia Country Offices and Field Offices who were willing to participate in this mapping. The eight South Asian Country Office Chiefs and Focal Points were kind enough to graciously and patiently share their documents, time, experiences and views to inform the insights presented in this report. Thanks goes also to the UNICEF field staff and members of partner organisations who offered rich insights from the field and from years of working to improve education systems in South Asia.

This mapping was conceptualized and made possible by the Education Section of UNICEF’s Regional Office for South Asia. Urmila Sarkar and Ivan Coursac were highly committed to making this mapping a success, insightful in their steering of the project, extremely cooperative in providing frequent communication and prompt responses despite very busy schedules, and overall a pleasure to work with. Detailed feedback was provided on draft reports by Urmila Sarkar and Ivan Coursac, as well as by Samuel Bickel from ROSA’s Evaluation Section.

It is hoped that this report does justice in capturing the rich experiences and insights shared with me, and that its findings will prove useful to the many efforts of UNICEF and its partners to provide an education whose quality enables every child in South Asia to thrive and learn in preparation for a meaningful and contributing life. Any errors in this report are my own.

Suzana Brinkmann, PhDConsultant, UNICEF ROSAOctober 2017

iv

ABL Activity-Based LearningACER Australian Council for Educational ResearchASER Annual Status of Education ReportCFA Child-Friendly Approach (Sri Lanka)CFEP Child Friendly Education Programme (Sri Lanka)CFS Child-Friendly SchoolsCFSS Child-Friendly Schools and SystemsCP Country ProgramCO Country OfficeCOAR Country Office Annual ReportDP Development PartnerECCD Early Childhood Care and DevelopmentECE Early Childhood EducationEGRA/ EGMA Early Grade Reading Assessment/ Early Grade Math AssessmentEMIS Education Management Information SystemEO Education OfficerES Education SpecialistGDP Gross Domestic ProductGNH Gross National HappinessINGO International Non-Government OrganisationMGML Multi-grade Multi-level (pedagogy)ML Multi-level (pedagogy)MoE Ministry of EducationMTR Mid-term ReviewNAFA National Assessment Framework for Afghanistan NCF National Curriculum FrameworkNEAS National Education Assessment System (Pakistan)NGO Non-Government OrganisationOOSC Out of school childrenPISA Programme for International Student AssessmentROSA Regional Office for South AsiaSCR Social Cohesion and ResilienceSDP School Development PlanSWAp Sector Wide ApproachU-DISE Unified District Information of School EducationUN United NationsUNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural OrganizationUNICEF United Nations Children’s FundWASH Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

ACRONYMS

v

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The current mapping was envisioned in light of the learning challenges in South Asia, the urgent need for improving teaching and learning quality and lack of clarity around the same, a desire to map UNICEF’s efforts in this area to better understand what works, and to inform UNICEF South Asia’s ongoing efforts and further research in this area. The mapping involved a desk review of available documentation, online surveys, and skype interviews with key informants from UNICEF Country Offices, Field Offices, and key NGO/government partners. Findings were captured in the form of the present Report, a PDF Brief, a Powerpoint presentation, and a taxonomy listing UNICEF-supported quality interventions in South Asia. Findings regarding key challenges, success drivers, potential leverage points for enhancing teaching-learning quality, and UNICEF’s unique strengths and limitations as an organisation, were gathered from surveys, interviews, and the limited evaluations available. These were analysed in order to glean specific recommendations for UNICEF South Asia. Insights emerging from the analysis of findings can be summarised in these five key messages:

1. UNICEF’s quality initiatives have had positive impact on children’s access to quality learning environments, yet they have focused more on quality inputs than outcomes. There needs to be a shift in focus to changes in teaching and learning.

Despite the many challenges to education quality in South Asia, recent citizen-led assessments indicate some positive trends in Pakistan and India, including potential improvements in learning at pre-primary and primary levels (ASER Pakistan 2015, ASER India 2016). Indeed, the mapping findings indicate that UNICEF’s efforts over the past decade have contributed to improvements in children’s participation in school and in school facilities. However, a clear message emerging from the mapping is that the call of the day is to focus more explicitly on learning outcomes than has been the focus thus far. It was felt that talking only about quality may or may not lead to improved learning, whereas focusing on learning outcomes will inevitably streamline other interventions necessary for quality. Even with programmes like CFS, the goal should be not simply to implement the programme properly – but to enable students to achieve learning outcomes. Though many COs are indeed attempting to include a greater focus on learning in their new Country Programmes, executing this is especially challenging given that many South Asian countries lack the needed political and financial support or strong systems for measuring learning, as well as global lack of clarity on how to improve pedagogy and learning outcomes. In this context, UNICEF can play a key role in helping identify what works, and advising governments on the most strategic investments for improving learning. It was felt that UNICEF could increase its impact by defining a long-term vision and strategy for improving teaching-learning outcomes, and prioritising just a few key areas where it can show results, since improvements in learning are the ultimate gaugue of impact on education quality.

2. Redefine CFS for South Asia: from child-friendly environments to learning-centred education

Research on the impact of CFS in Nepal, Sri Lanka and India indicates that CFS has made a positive contribution to improving learning environments, children’s participation, and awareness around children’s rights. CFS initiatives in South Asia have predominantly focused on promoting inclusive welcoming environments, relevant learning materials, and a few on strengthening supportive systems. However, while these are certainly important components of quality education, they are not sufficient for ensuring changes in learning processes and outcomes. Activity-based learning (ABL) which UNICEF has supported in India was the only model to show evidence of improvements in child-centred learning processes and increased learning outcomes – though ABL itself was initiated by the government and inspired by an NGO model, rather than by UNICEF’s CFS model. Given that CFS as a concept has already gained much

vi

traction in South Asia, perhaps there is need to redefine what CFS means for South Asia, with a greater articulation of how to improve teaching-learning outcomes within this context. Rather than pushing for ‘child-friendly’ education which has been found to sometimes raise barriers in a South Asian cultural context, perhaps the focus should be more on ‘learning-centred education’ – designing a contextualised teaching process that can best support learning, in keeping with basic principles of learning.

3. There is need to showcase good working models on the groundWhile there may be a few pockets of innovation in different sectors, these are often not on the radar of the government or even of UNICEF. Demonstrating good working models of what learning-centred pedagogy could look like for different subjects, and also of transformative teacher training models that are able to bring shifts in teachers’ beliefs and practices, could be an important and much-needed resource for building teachers’ capacity for improving learning. UNICEF could create or identify such islands of excellence within the system, glean findings from existing evaluations or reviews conducted by other partners, help to showcase these as demonstrations of what could work, and flag these as potential models for upscaling or partnership. Connecting such outliers with each other would help build a platform that could gain enough momentum to create a viable alternative to the status quo. It could also analyse and help evaluate such outliers to identify lessons and key leverage points for enhancing learning.

4. Our strategies need to take into account regional challenges and leverage them for success

Models that have worked well in other contexts may not necessarily succeed as intended in South Asia, given its unique regional challenges such as its prevalence of conflict and disasters, weak systemic capacity, poor governance and politicisation of teaching, low-skilled teachers and weak teacher training, and strong exam culture. These are not likely to change in the near future, thus our strategies need to build on and leverage these to make them contribute to our success (an example of this is the recommendation below of using an existing constraint of the exam culture dominant in the region, and leveraging that for success by changing the way national assessments are designed). Given the prevalence of fragile contexts in the region, we also need to think of setting learning standards that are appropriate for such fragile contexts.

5. Complex challenges in South Asia require exploring creative new options for capacity-building of teachers, systems, and UNICEF’s own staff

This is an important area for UNICEF specially given that one of its strengths is its access to international resources, and that one of its limitations identified is its lack of technical expertise in the area of improving learning quality. The magnitude of need for building capacity at all levels requires moving away from traditional options of training workshops or conferences, to exploring out-of-the box options that tap into technology and latest thinking on leadership development.

What could quality mean for South Asia?Based on a review and critique of existing definitions of quality, this mapping proposes a new definition of quality focusing on six dimensions seen as integral to education quality: ensuring thriving learners, welcoming learning environments, relevant learning materials, learning-centred processes, universal learning outcomes, and supportive systems. UNICEF’s education programming in South Asia for the past decade has made important contributions in the first, second, third, and sixth, but has had less explicit focus on the fourth and fifth which are central to education quality. An analysis of findings from the mapping suggests that perhaps a more achievable conception of ‘quality’ for South Asia at this point in time may be to develop learning-centred education systems, that are able to ensure that the majority of children are able to achieve basic competencies appropriate to their grade level – compared to the mere one-third of children currently achieving this. In particular, in a South Asian context a discussion of improved

vii

learning outcomes cannot be divorced from a discussion of how to bring pedagogical shifts from teacher-centred classrooms: pedagogy and learning outcomes must go hand in hand. Based on an analysis of interviews, surveys and document review, the mapping was able to identify some potential leverage points likely to contribute to improved outcomes for teaching and learning, though these need to be substantiated by further research:

1. Empower teachers as professionals to engage with basic principles of learning, through both short-term strategies of providing effective in-school teacher coaching, and long-term strategies of developing vibrant teacher education systems that allow teachers to experience and internalize basic principles of learning (like attempts to restructure teacher education systems in Odisha and Maharashtra, India).

2. Structured pedagogical interventions designed to strengthen teaching and learning, by organising materials, training and supervision around a specific pedagogical model designed to change students’ learning experiences, and adapt teaching to student learning levels (like Activity-Based Learning in India).

3. Generate political will to clearly define and measure desired learning outcomes, ensuring these are regularly monitored through both large-scale learning surveys and classroom-based formative assessments (like Afghanistan’s attempts to develop national assessment systems, while also training teachers to implement formative assessment).

4. Build capacity of education stakeholders to discuss and use learning assessment data to inform decision-making at all levels, including both education planners and managers for allocating resources and efforts at sub-national levels, and teachers for allocating time and attention to individual children or specific competencies (Education monitoring systems in Punjab province, Pakistan is one example of analyzing data and ranking districts’ performance on key quality indicators in order to prioritize action).

5. Empower parents to demand and support improved learning, for example through developing a simple list of key outcomes every child should know at each grade level, to empower parents to hold schools accountable for ensuring all children learn (like efforts in India to display grade-wise learning objectives stated in simple terms on school walls for parents to know what to demand).

6. Strengthen governance of learning by building stronger transparency, accountability, and efficiency at different levels right to school management (like Nepal’s Data Must Speak initiative).

Recommendations for UNICEF COs and ROSAThough learning is the call of the day, it is also the most difficult and a relatively new area for UNICEF South Asia. Much more is needed in generating evidence, showing good working models, strengthening systems, and developing UNICEF’s own technical capacity and resource pools in this area. Keeping in mind the challenges and successes identified, as well as what people felt were UNICEF’s key strengths and limitations in working for quality improvement, five preliminary recommendations are made whereby UNICEF may strategically contribute to improving quality:

1. Advocate with governments to shift the focus to learning as a right of children, through strong evidence-based advocacy and research.

2. Show good working models on the ground for improving pedagogy and learning, through a combination of piloting innovative strategies, and identifying and leveraging outliers within the current system that have been able to show results, from across sectors.

3. Help shift national assessments from testing memorization, towards testing competencies, as a way of leveraging the strong exam culture to create pressure for teacher training and systems to ensure a shift towards learner-centred pedagogies.

viii

4. Build systemic capacity at all levels to analyse and use data for improving learning, leading to informed decision-making for bringing changes in pedagogy, teacher support, curriculum reform or review of materials, all with the view to leading to enhanced learning outcomes.

5. Strengthen accountability for learning, by empowering parents to demand and support quality improvement, or working with teacher unions to strengthen teacher accountability.

Based on the above recommendations for COs, ROSA could provide support in helping identify key leverage points for improving teaching-learning outcomes, and in creating a database of good test items measuring children’s understanding and competencies for countries to draw from. It was felt that ROSA could facilitate regular opportunities to document and share good work happening on the ground, harvest findings from existing evaluations or reviews conducted by other partners, organise capacity-building opportunities for COs around improving teaching-learning quality, and build capacity of senior government leaders around learning enhancement.

In terms of further research on the impact of CFS programmes on teaching-learning outcomes, this mapping suggests that many of the CFS programmes in South Asia may not have explicitly aimed at bringing changes in teaching and learning outcomes, and thus may not be able to show significant impact on learning (for example in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Pakistan). Rather, the study suggests four areas of research that ROSA could potentially facilitate, to help UNICEF learn from and identify what works for improving teaching and learning quality, and which could present a first step towards redefining what CFS could look like within South Asia:

1. Deeper analysis, discussion and dissemination of findings from existing evaluations of CFS in South Asia (particularly from India, Sri Lanka and Nepal).

2. A self-evaluation exercise of UNICEF’s quality initiatives in each country, to enable UNICEF and partners to collectively reflect on the impact and gaps of UNICEF’s quality programming

3. Mapping of existing outliers from across sectors that have been able to show improvements in teaching and learning, to look at what works for bringing change on the ground.

4. More rigorous evaluations of 3-5 of the key outliers identified in the mapping that may not have already been evaluated, to isolate their impact on teaching and learning outcomes.

IMPROVING EDUCATION QUALITY IN SOUTH ASIA (I):A REVIEW OF UNICEF’S EFFORTS

1PB

32

FROM SCHOOLING TO LEARNING

FROM SCHOOLING TO LEARNING1


32

South Asia is home to some of the largest populations of children and adolescents aged 0-18 (over 600 million), which presents both a demographic opportunity, and some of the most complex challenges for providing quality education for every child. Tremendous efforts have been made to get all children enrolled in schools, yet ensuring that these children learn has been an even bigger challenge. Recent reports by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2017) and World Bank (2018) signal a global ‘learning crisis’: that a staggering 617 million children and adolescents worldwide are not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics. Among these, Central and Southern Asia has the second highest rate in the world next to Sub-Saharan Africa, with 81% of children aged 6-14, or 241 million, not learning (UNESCO 2017).

The sad part is that two-thirds of the children who are not learning are in fact in school, sitting in classrooms. Of the children who attend primary and lower secondary school in Central and South Asia, only 19% manage to attain minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematic (UNESCO 2017). In India and Pakistan, with two of the most developed and decentralised education systems in South Asia, citizen-led assessments indicate that only 46% of children in Pakistan public schools and 48% in Indian public schools can read a Class 2 level text by the time they reach Class 5 (ASER Pakistan 2015, ASER India 2016). In countries like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, less than half of students leave primary school with the basic foundational skills one would expect them to

have after completing primary school.

The poor quality of education in turn contributes to the highest drop-out rates in the world, creating a compounding vicious cycle of poor learning levels. Consequently, over half of students complete secondary school – not counting the ones who drop out or fail – without the requisite skills they need to succeed in life. The magnitude of this crisis can only be fully understood where there are nationally-representative examination systems that capture the status of learning across the board. However, a lot of countries in South Asia are still investing in developing rigorous national assessment systems.

At the heart of this crisis in learning lies the teacher-centred pedagogy that still dominates the majority of classrooms in South Asia. A poorly-skilled, poorly-motivated, inadequate teaching workforce compounded by a dearth of quality teacher training programmes has meant that many classrooms in South Asia remain characterised by rote-based exam-oriented teaching, corporal punishment, and discrimination. What we do know is that trying to shift traditional pedagogies towards child-centred, inclusive classrooms is not easy, and it will not happen quickly. And the discouraging part is that many countries are not quite sure how to bring a change in the quality of teaching and thus in learning.

This paints an alarming picture of the population of adolescents leaving South Asian schools. If over half of children leave school without the basic skills they need to become

CONTEXT: THE LEARNING CRISIS IN SOUTH ASIA

54


productive members of society or contribute to their economies, ten years from now it will lead to a stunting of these nations’ economic growth and development. Governments and citizens alike need to acknowledge the seriousness of these implications not only for these children’s future but also for their nations’ future.

In light of this sober reality, it is becoming all the more important and even urgent to invest

in dramatically improving education quality in South Asia. We need more teachers, better training, better teaching, and ultimately better learning – which when translated into millions of classrooms on the ground, is a massive undertaking. Pausing today to take stock of the impact of our efforts and to redirect our investments more strategically, becomes essential in order to avoid a bleak future tomorrow – for every South Asian nation, and for every South Asian child.

© U

NIC

EF/

UN

I184

516/

Pan

day


54

UNICEF’S GLOBAL RESPONSE: STRENGTHENING SYSTEMS TO STRENGTHEN LEARNING

UNICEF has been working with governments across South Asia to improve the quality of education offered by national education systems. To improve the quality of teaching and learning, UNICEF has been supporting governments in introducing Child-Friendly Schools (CFS) principles into national policies and standards, and to shift schools towards child-friendly environments and practices. UNICEF has also been partnering with national and sub-national governments to strengthen curriculum, learning materials, teacher training programmes, teacher support, and learning assessment systems.

UNICEF’s current education work in South Asia is influenced by certain key recent shifts in UNICEF’s global approach in education. The first is a shift in focus from trying to ensure children’s ‘right to education’ to trying to promote children’s ‘right to learn’. This is based on the fact that in many South Asian countries, the focus was first on getting all children to school, and then getting them to continue in school by making schools a more child-friendly place for all children. After considerable progress has been made in these areas of improving access and retention in education, the focus is now turning towards improving the quality not only of teaching, but also of children’s learning outcomes. Though this is a relatively new area of work for UNICEF South Asia on which much clarity is still needed globally, many South Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are starting to integrate this renewed

focus on learning outcomes into their UNICEF Country Programmes for the coming years.

Related to this shift is an attempt towards broadening the definition of learning, to include a focus on skills beyond basic foundations of literacy and numeracy – skills that would contribute to personal, communal and societal flourishing. Personal skills necessary for productive and fulfilling work and full participation in society would include lifelong learning, critical thinking, problem-solving, and entrepreneurship. Skills that would contribute to communities thriving may include interpersonal social skills, active citizenship, gender equality, peace and social cohesion. There is also an emerging focus on transversal competencies or 21st century skills to help societies thrive in an increasingly complex and interconnected world, such as global citizenship, innovative thinking, and media and technological literacy. In general, developing skills is a new, complex area of focus for UNICEF that will require building evidence, expertise and capacity in this area.

A third global shift that informs UNICEF’s education strategy in South Asia is a move from more ‘downstream’ delivery of services such as trainings or material development, towards more ‘upstream’ influencing of policy and strengthening the capacity of government systems to themselves deliver these services with quality. UNICEF is increasingly moving away from directly delivering these services on the ground, and towards partnerships

76


with government systems or other non-governmental partners who can implement on the ground. In relation to improving learning, an emerging area of focus has been around strengthening assessment systems for measuring learning, as well as improved use of assessment data to improve teaching and learning across South Asia. Finally, given that South Asia is a particularly conflict- and disaster-prone region, UNICEF South Asia has also focused on providing education in emergency or sensitive situations. While more needs to be done in this area, two clear priorities that stand out are the development of rapid assessments of learning applicable in emergency situations, and a more widespread understanding of the role of non-academic learning outcomes such as resilience and tolerance.

UNICEF’s primary initiative for improving education quality both globally and in South Asia has been the CFS model, which could provide one possible way forward in this emerging priority area of improving teaching-learning quality. However there has been very limited evidence available on the impact of CFS programmes on improving learning quality – both globally, and also in South Asia (besides a few rigorous evaluations like the one of ABL programmes in India). Moreover, research has been scarce in general on the impact of UNICEF’s recent quality efforts on improving teaching-learning quality. It is hoped that the current mapping could provide the groundwork for further potential research in this area.

© U

NIC

EF/

UN

0163

97/S

ingh


76

PURPOSE AND METHODOLOGY OF THIS MAPPING

The current mapping was envisioned in light of the context described above of the growing importance of efforts to improve teaching-learning quality in South Asia, lack of clarity around the same, and a desire to map UNICEF’s efforts in this area to better understand what works, and to inform UNICEF South Asia’s ongoing efforts and future research. This mapping is intended to review all initiatives supported by UNICEF in the previous and current country programmes (especially in the past 5 years) to improve education quality in government schools in South Asia. The mapping includes those South Asian countries that are covered by SAARC, which form the focus of the work of UNICEF’s Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA): Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The mapping generated 4 separate outputs: the present report, a Brief synthesising the main findings of the mapping, a Powerpoint presentation of key findings that can be adapted and used by UNICEF South Asia offices, and a taxonomy that can be developed in the future into a searchable online database accessible to UNICEF staff, Development Partners (DPs) and others working to improve education quality in South Asia. Specific objectives for the mapping include:

1. To create an updated evidence base on UNICEF-supported initiatives for strengthening education quality in South Asia -- including any available evidence of their impact, sustainability and relevance –

to inform ongoing efforts of UNICEF offices and other partners working in this area.

2. To review existing programmes to identify good practices, lessons learned, and preliminary recommendations for UNICEF’s work to improve education quality in the region.

3. To make broad recommendations for further research by UNICEF ROSA, such as a potential formative evaluation of child-friendly education, or other research to better understand the contribution of quality interventions to improving teaching-learning outcomes.

ROSA will utilise the mapping to promote evidence-based programming and to strengthen linkages between country offices (COs) and other institutions engaged in the development of programme strategies to successfully improve learning quality for children in the region. The current report is intended to serve as a basis for sharing information with and between COs and partners, and to identify promising practices on improving teaching-learning quality in the region. Given that this a relatively new area for ROSA support to UNICEF Country Offices in South Asia, it is hoped that this mapping will contribute towards developing a shared understanding among COs of how they can contribute to improving the quality of teaching-learning in South Asia.

The methodology used for the mapping included a combination of desk review of relevant documents, surveys as well as

98


interviews with key informants from UNICEF and major partners in the 8 countries. In the initial stage of the mapping, the author conducted a desk review of all relevant documentation and evaluations of quality initiatives that could be gathered from the 8 UNICEF COs, from ROSA, and from Internet searches. These were used to compile the taxonomy in the form of an Excel sheet, for which a template was developed in consultation with ROSA. This was followed by the creation of an online questionnaire administered to UNICEF CO staff and field colleagues, as well as a shorter questionnaire customised for NGO/government partners who have worked closely with UNICEF on quality initiatives (with a total of 18 respondents from UNICEF COs and field offices, and 12 respondents from partner

© U

NIC

EF/

UN

I414

84/P

irozz

i

organisations). In the final stage of the mapping, the author conducted skype interviews with 18 key informants from UNICEF COs, field offices, consultants and other partners (interviews covered similar topics but were customised for individual respondents). Further details about the surveys and interviews are included in Appendices 1, 2 and 3, including a list of respondents, questions used for surveys and interviews, and highlights of key survey responses. Data from all three stages was analysed to inform the insights captured in the current report. However since there are few impact evaluations available of UNICEF’s quality programming in South Asia, the mapping relied more heavily on qualitative analysis of people’s responses in surveys and interviews, and to a lesser extent on internal UNICEF reports and on the few available evaluations (findings from evaluations of CFS programmes in particular are discussed in more detail in Section III.4). At every stage of the mapping, ROSA was closely involved in discussing objectives and strategy, sharing feedback on proposed templates, as well as providing detailed comments on drafts.

The author has spent the last decade working on reforming government schools in India, through work with the Indian Government, UNICEF India, and independent research. Thus insights from these experiences have also informed the analysis for this report. While an attempt was made to capture data from all 8 South Asian countries during the 3 phases of the mapping, the author’s prior experience may generate a bias in terms of in-depth country knowledge and greater field examples from India. While it is acknowledged that lessons from India cannot necessarily be extrapolated to all South Asian countries, it helps that the diversity in context between different states in India reflects some of the diversity in context between different countries in South Asia. The lessons and recommendations in this report are made primarily keeping in mind the larger countries in the region (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan), although it is hoped that the findings would present lessons that may also prove relevant for the smaller three countries in the region (Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka).


98

RE-DEFINING QUALITY

Part of the challenge in examining UNICEF’s initiatives to improve education quality in South Asia, is that UNICEF globally does not have a systematic guideline on what are the definitions, indicators or standards that UNICEF as a whole is striving for as part of ‘education quality’. This lack of clarity has contributed to very divergent programming in each country in terms of quality initiatives. This was part of the motivation for the current mapping: to gain a stronger understanding of what is happening where and what works in terms of improving education quality. Thus it was felt that a first step of conducting the present mapping was to state clearly the definition of quality being used while reviewing different quality initiatives and their impact.

In order to arrive at such a definition, various definitions of education quality used in recent years were reviewed. The present definition is particularly influenced by UNICEF’s document on ‘Defining Quality in Education’ (UNICEF 2000), and by UNICEF’s Child-Friendly Schools framework (e.g. UNICEF 2009). However some limitations were found in these frameworks, which the present definition seeks to address and build upon. First, available definitions sometimes tend to use vague or overlapping categories that may communicate similar ideas (e.g. UNICEF 2000). Thus the present definition attempts to use more specific qualifying labels for each category, and to define clearly what each category includes so as to make them conceptually distinct from each other and to

avoid repetition of ideas or overlapping of categories. Second, the categories frequently used do not always acknowledge or apply to diverse levels including school, systemic, and policy levels. Several focus primarily on what happens inside the school (e.g. UNICEF 2000), but not on the systemic conditions that support or hinder learning quality in the school. Or on the other hand, frameworks may use complex jargon that might make sense to educational planners or researchers, but may not find as much relevance to school practitioners. The present document attempts to define education quality using categories that would find relevance at various levels, acknowledging the roles of both schools and systems in supporting learning.

For the purpose of this review, quality education is defined as an education that enables all children to thrive and learn in preparation for a meaningful, contributing life. In this view, quality education involves the following dimensions:1. Thriving learners: Healthy, well-nourished

children with positive early learning experiences, their rights respected, and supportive involved parents

2. Welcoming learning environment: An environment that provides appropriate physical, emotional and social conditions for every child’s learning.

3. Relevant learning materials: Availability of curriculum and materials that are relevant to students’ understanding, diversity, communities, and futures.

1110


4. Learning-centred processes: Processes that empower both students and teachers through democratic practices geared towards enhancing learning.

5. Universal learning outcomes: Holistic child-appropriate learning objectives are defined, and regularly assessed through classroom formative assessments as well as large-scale assessments, in order to support every child to achieve them.

6. Supportive systems: School leadership, administrative systems, education systems and governments that prioritise and support children’s learning.

Thus the Quality Mapping sought to review any interventions that seek to directly influence one or more of the above dimensions, thereby directly contributing to all children being able to thrive and learn while attending school. Each of these six dimensions is explained in more detail in the table that follows.

While the above definition attempts to lay out a comprehensive conceptualisation of quality encompassing the different factors that may affect the quality of students’ learning experiences once in school, the current review focuses specifically on those interventions that have been supported by UNICEF’s Education programming. There are some aspects of a quality education that have been supported by sections of UNICEF programming other than Education – for example, nutrition, water and sanitation, early childhood development, or child protection. Such interventions are integral to education quality but are beyond the scope of the current review.

Further, the detailed explanations listed in the table 1 below under each dimension of quality education reflect challenges faced by education systems of many developing countries, but with specific relevance to the South Asian context. For example, while there is much global literature on the pedagogical move towards ‘learner-centred’ education, the current document uses the term ‘learning-centred’ to attempt to move

© U

NIC

EF/

UN

0467

12/H

aque

beyond dichotomies of ‘teacher-centred’ vs. ‘learner-centred’. Many South Asian cultures value the role of didactic teaching styles, and rather than entirely rejecting such processes, the challenge is to find appropriate pedagogies that honour the culture yet best support learning. Mention is made of the need for teacher education to focus on fostering a belief in and commitment to every child’s learning, given that in many South Asian countries, cultural beliefs and social norms uniquely hamper the belief that every child can learn. Conflict situations and corruption are challenges faced by many countries, but that particularly affect education systems in South Asian countries. Similarly, the role of strong sub-national political leadership committed to improving education quality has been found by several South Asian countries to be particularly important to the success of certain child-friendly pedagogic interventions, such as the Activity-based Learning programme of Tamil Nadu, India.


1110

Dimensions of Quality Education

What that Includes

1. Thriving learnersHealthy, well-nourished children with positive early learning experiences, their rights respected, and supportive, involved parents

• Healthy, well-nourished children: Schooling system supports good health and nutrition of all students

• Positive early childhood experiences: Parents are equipped for how to build a strong foundation for learners before they enter formal school

• Children’s rights respected: Schooling system takes efforts to ensure children are free from exploitation, violence, labour and other damaging situations that violate their rights

• Home-school-community partnerships to ensure children’s regular attendance, participation and progress in learning

2. Welcoming learning environmentAn environment that provides appropriate physical, emotional and social conditions for every child’s learning.

• Physical infrastructure built to support children’s health and learning (Eg. water & sanitation, small class sizes, accessibility)

• Emotional environment that is safe, secure, and non-violent • Psychosocial support to identify children’s individual special needs and to promote

children’s emotional wellbeing, particularly in emergency or conflict situations• Socially inclusive ethos that values and respects every learner’s dignity and identity,

including their gender, community, home language, and special needs (with special consideration for those from traditionally marginalised groups)

3. Relevant learning materials Availability of curriculum and materials that are relevant to students’ understanding, diversity, communities, and futures.

• Student-centred: Learning materials are easily comprehensible, and appropriate for students’ levels of understanding (rather than strictly determined by age).

• Respectful of diversity: materials use language and examples that affirm students’ different genders and backgrounds

• Contributing to community: developing knowledge, values and skills that enable students to contribute to improving their communities (eg. equality, service, non-violence, HIV/AIDS prevention, emergency situations)

• Equipping for future: imparts relevant literacy, numeracy, and other life skills necessary for preparing students to become contributing members of society

4. Learning-centred processesProcesses that empower both students and teachers through democratic practices geared towards enhancing learning.

• Empowered students actively engaged in meaningful learning tasks• Empowered teachers who have positive working conditions and ongoing support to

develop into competent professionals• Democratic relationships in a loving and fear-free environment• Learning-centred teachers who believe all children can learn, are committed to ensuring

every child learns, and design diverse methods to support each child’s unique learning needs

5. Universal learning outcomesHolistic child-appropriate learning objectives are defined and regularly assessed in order to support every child to achieve them

• Holistic outcomes: Curriculum and pedagogy go beyond developing basic skills to prepare students as lifelong learners, confident decision-makers, and responsible global citizens

• Child-appropriate objectives: Systems and teachers define clear learning objectives based on curricular goals and students’ current learning levels

• Assessment for quality improvement: Classroom formative assessment and wider-scale summative assessments are regularly analysed in order to identify and address barriers to learning

• Additional support for lower-performing students, especially those from disadvantaged groups, to reduce learning disparities.

6. Supportive systemsSchool leadership, administrative systems, education systems and governments that prioritise and support children’s learning

• Democratic school leadership and management that involve teachers, parents and students in decision-making and collective efforts for improving school quality

• Efficient governance and administrative systems that are free of corruption, and use technology to decrease rather than increase disparities

• Learning-centred educational systems (planning, teacher development, monitoring) that constantly self-reflect how they can improve to better support children’s learning

• National and sub-national political leadership that prioritises education, providing supportive laws, policies, financing, and political will for strengthening learning systems

TABLE 1 Definition of ‘Quality Education’ used in the present mapping

1312

REGIONAL OVERVIEW: INITIATIVES FOR IMPROVING EDUCATION QUALITY


2


1312

A key challenge in any discussion of education quality in South Asia is the vast divergence in contexts in the region, and the diverse challenges faced by different nations in the region. This complicates any attempt to compare countries in the region, to draw lessons with relevance across countries, or even to group countries together to target recommendations to different groups. For example, the region is home to some of the most severe poverty globally in countries like India and Bangladesh, in contrast to emerging middle-income economies like the Maldives or Sri Lanka. Afghanistan and India are among the top ten countries with the highest number of reported disasters due to natural hazards and conflict, making it increasingly difficult to deliver quality education services to their children. Unique in the region, Afghanistan with its precarious security situation faces added challenges in rolling out education programmes on a national scale.

Many of the larger poorer countries in the region are still struggling financially with getting sufficient resources to even sustain the education system required for their vast populations, and still struggling with basic challenges of getting large numbers of out-of-school children enrolled in school. In contrast, the smaller countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan have been able to achieve universal primary school completion, and thus are in a better position to be able to focus more on issues of quality. Different countries

have very different education structures, with countries like India and Pakistan with increasingly decentralised education systems, while some like Bangladesh still having highly centralised systems, and others like Nepal being in a state of transition from a centralized to a decentralized system.

These diverse contexts make it difficult to have lessons and recommendations that are relevant to countries across the region. Yet while the sheer magnitude of numbers and diversity of needs and circumstances demand a variety of strategies targeted to specific contexts, sharing what has worked well in different contexts can spark ideas and possibilities that could be explored in different countries, even if needing to be adapted to account for diversity. This is what the current section attempts to do. The section begins with a broad look at UNICEF’s focus areas and overall contributions to improving education quality in South Asia. This is followed by an overview of each country, presenting the key UNICEF-supported quality initiatives undertaken in that country in the past decade, UNICEF’s key contributions and current focus areas, some of the biggest challenges to quality, and listing available evaluations conducted of quality initiatives in that country which could be accessed during the mapping. Findings reported throughout Section 2 are taken from what people stated in the surveys and interviews, as well as to some extent from documents reviewed for the mapping.

© U

NIC

EF/

UN

0178

22/A

ltaf

Ahm

ad

1514


OVERVIEW OF UNICEF’S QUALITY SUPPORT IN SOUTH ASIA

UNICEF’s support for improving education quality has ranged across a diverse set of initiatives in different South Asian countries. UNICEF-supported initiatives have spanned across the six dimensions identified in the definition of quality being used for this mapping, with different focus areas emphasised by different countries. Appendix 4 presents a table that lists the types of quality initiatives emphasised by different South Asian countries in recent years that were included in the taxonomy, organised according to the six dimensions of quality as defined in this mapping. The table is by no means exhaustive of all UNICEF quality-related activities in recent years, and lists only the most prominent initiatives that were highlighted in the documents reviewed for the mapping and in the surveys and interviews conducted during the mapping. The types of initiatives listed in the table were counted and presented as a pie chart shown in Figure

1. This counting is only indicative since not only does it potentially leave out initiatives not captured by the taxonomy, but it also assigns an equal value to every initiative regardless of its size or intensity, which may not be accurate. Nevertheless, Figure 1 presents an indicative picture of the types of initiatives that been the focus of UNICEF’s education programming in South Asia in the past decade. As reflected in the pie chart, UNICEF’s education programming in South Asia has made important contributions in the first, second, third, and sixth dimensions of education quality as defined in this mapping, which are indeed important components of education quality, but has had less explicit focus on the fourth and fifth dimensions -- learning processes and outcomes – which are central to education quality.

In terms of UNICEF’s key contributions to improving education quality in South Asia,

Categorization as per defination of ‘quality education’ used in mapping

Thriving Learners

Welcoming environments

Relevant materials

Learning-centred processes

Universal learning outcomes

Supportive systems Holistic Life Skill

EMIS & Planning

Assessment

Learning outcomes

CFS

Advocacy & Convening ECE

Girls Education

InclusiveEducation

Emergencies

SCR & PeaceBuilding

Curriculum & Materials

Adolescents

OOCS & Accelerated

Learning

Teacher development

FIGURE 1 Overview of UNICEF’s education programming in South Asia


1514

many of the people interviewed and surveyed highlighted CFS as perhaps the biggest area of contribution. CFS has provided a coherent structure for converging a lot of diverse interventions around children’s rights and the essential elements needed for creating a positive learning environment in schools. It was felt that CFS programmes have significantly contributed to improving the quality of learning environments, both in terms of infrastructure and resources, but also in promoting relationships in the school that are more democratic and inclusive. Several countries highlighted that CFS has been integral to shifting the direction of policy, programming and collective mindsets towards child-centred education. For example, the India UNICEF team pointed out that while 15 years ago child-centred pedagogy may have been a contested concept, today nobody will deny that it is an essential and effective model for promoting children’s learning, especially at the primary level. Admittedly, this was not entirely a UNICEF-initiated effort since in many ways UNICEF built on what the Indian government was already trying to promote, but UNICEF’s contribution cannot be undermined in terms of its consistent advocacy, capacity-building and demonstration around holistic child-centred education.

A second key area of UNICEF’s contribution to quality education has been its focus on strengthening systems to deliver quality. Many countries reported a shift towards more upstream, systemic work rather than one-off initiatives that are less sustainable, or from more UNICEF-led delivery of services to strengthening the capacity of government systems themselves to deliver quality. In many countries this has meant a focus on strengthening of Education Management Information System (EMIS), promoting data analysis, as well evidence generation, for more informed decision-making and planning in the sector. UNICEF has also been shifting towards more Sector-wide Approaches (SWAp) in many South Asian countries, which has helped promote greater convergence and focus in UNICEF’s efforts. UNICEF has been engaging in more high-level advocacy in order to build government ownership of different quality initiatives, aligning them more

closely with government priorities. Figure 2 provides an overview of survey responses of both UNICEF staff and partners regarding to what extent people felt UNICEF has been able to contribute to influencing national policy on quality aspects of education, building government ownership of quality initiatives, and building government capacity for implementing large-scale quality programmes.

Another key contribution highlighted in the Mapping has been UNICEF’s efforts towards strengthening national assessment systems. Many South Asian countries are still investing in developing strong nationally representative assessments, and UNICEF along with other technical partners has been supporting countries like Afghanistan to develop robust national assessment systems (more details provided in the Afghanistan Country Page later in Section II). In Pakistan, the UNICEF CO with ROSA support has been working with the national institution National Education Assessment System (NEAS) to strengthen analysis, dissemination and use of learning assessment data, to identify disparities across locations or communities and better target resources to the most disadvantaged groups. When asked in the survey to what extent they feel UNICEF has contributed to strengthening government capacity to analyse and use assessment data to strengthen learning, out of 17 UNICEF respondents, the average rating was 3.12 on a scale of 0-5 (Seven respondents rated 3, five rated 4, while three chose 2, and one each chose 5 and 1). UNICEF India mentioned how a key milestone of progress has been that before, learning outcomes, national assessments and teaching-learning processes were happening somewhat in isolation. Now there are clear linkages between the three: the country has been able to define desired learning outcomes, national assessments are geared towards assessing these not just in terms of content but also competencies, and there is a move towards analysing assessment findings to inform interventions for strengthening teaching-learning processes. Field colleagues confirmed that this shift towards analysing assessment data to see how they can be strengthened by informing pedagogical

1716


UNICEF Survey: Average 2.75

Government does not have the capacity Government has the capacity and is already leading large-scale quality initiatives

0 1 2 53 4

In your opinion, to what extent does the government have the capacity to implement large-scale or national initiatives for improving the quality of education and learning?

UNICEF Survey: Average 3.12

Government does not have the capacity Government has the capacity and is already leading large-scale quality initiatives

0 1 2 4 53

Government is leading or initiating

Government is Fully supportive

Government is somewhat supportive

Government is compliant but sees this as an external initiative

Government is not supportive

8 / 47%

7 / 41%

2 / 12%

0 / 0%

0 / 0%

1

2

3

4

5

Regarding the highest-impact initiatives you listed earlier, to what extent has the government taken ownership over these initiatives? (UNICEF Survey)

In your opinion, how successful has UNICEF been in influencing policy development on quality aspects of education? (For example, has UNICEF’s work been able to significantly shape key strategies in the Government’s Education Sector Plans?) (1 = Not very much; 5 = Highly)

1

2

3

4

5UNICEF Survey: 3.59 Average rating

7 / 41%

4 / 24%

2 / 12%

3 / 18%

1

2

3Partner Survey: 3.67 Average rating

6 / 50%

2 / 17%

4 / 33%

1 / 6%

FIGURE 2 Overview of survey reponses on UNICEF’s systemic impact


1716

interventions has reached to the state and sub-state levels. In Bangladesh too, largely on account of efforts under the Each Child Learns (ECL) initiative under PEDP3, the Class 5 primary completion exam is now mostly geared towards assessing competencies rather than just content. In countries like Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh, UNICEF’s support has also extended to strengthening classroom-based formative assessment, by developing guidelines for this or including capacity-building on this within teacher training programmes, training teachers to analyse and use assessment data for improving teaching-learning processes.

The other biggest contribution from UNICEF programming highlighted in the Mapping has been to promote more equitable, holistic education for all children. UNICEF teams across the region felt that UNICEF has played a key role in promoting education for the most marginalised, and promoting equity-based planning for specific deprived groups. Figure 3 shows which groups UNICEF teams felt have been the most benefitted by UNICEF-supported quality initiatives in recent years: the most prominent of which have been girls,

out-of-school children, and children from lower socio-economic backgrounds. The category ‘other’ could include groups such as undocumented immigrants or rural vs. urban populations which were not explicitly mentioned in the list of options provided. Implicit in this list is that UNICEF and partners have more specifically targeted certain groups, and this list reflects this targeting. Countries like India also highlighted initiative such as Sports for Development which has had a significant influence in promoting holistic all-round development of children. Moreover, efforts like promoting mothertongue education for children whose main language is different from the medium of instruction, has been key in improving learning for all children. Finally, UNICEF’s focus on strengthening early childhood education in different South Asian countries was also noted as significant for building a strong foundation to enable learning for all children once they enter formal schooling. The consequences are far-reaching: strong early childhood development has been found to improve school preparedness and early socialisation, increase on-time enrolment, decrease the likelihood of early drop-out, and improve overall learning outcomes.

FIGURE 3 UNICEF survey reponses on disadvantaged groups most impacted by UNICEF initiatives

15 / 83%

2 / 11%

3 / 17%

3 / 17%

5 / 28%

5 / 28%

5 / 28%

8 / 44%

10 / 56%

12 / 67%

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Girls

Others

Ethnic or linguistic minorities

Children at risk (e.g. orphans, street-children, child laboures)

Refugees or internally displaced peoples

Historically oppressed communities (e.g. low caste, etc.)

Children with special needs

Children affected by confilct or emergencies

Communities with low socio-economics status

Out of school children

1918


AFGHANISTANKey recent quality initiatives Capacity-building of Primary Teachers on Assessment for Learning (AfL): In 2015-16, in close collaboration with the government Teacher Education Department (TED), a UNICEF consultant developed training materials for AfL to help teachers to use assessment information to improve teaching and learning. The package included a Facilitator’s Guide, a Teacher’s Reference Manual, innovative multimedia to support teachers, and a cascade training plan to reach 1,500 CFS schools and 1,600 community-based schools. To date the programme has reached over 10,000 teachers and will now be integrated into pre- and in-service teacher training. It has been well received by the TED who has asked UNICEF to support upscaling in all 34 provinces.

Child-Friendly Schools: UNICEF dedicated support to intensive teacher training to improve quality learning based upon Child Friendly School (CFS) principles. 1,500 CFS schools have been set up in all ten focus provinces. A baseline assessment of these schools was conducted in 2013-14, and a follow-up study is yet to be conducted.

Curriculum Reform: A curriculum renewal process has begun in 2017, led by UNESCO and with technical support from UNICEF. It’s an exciting opportunity to lighten the currently over-crowded curriculum, to ensure the new curriculum is adequately responsive to students’ needs, and to bring in key elements of social cohesion, sanitation, and other priority areas into the curriculum.

Advocacy for child-friendly principles in policy and planning: UNICEF was able to contribute to infusing child-friendly principles and quality standards into the National Education Sector Plan 2017-21, which has quality education as a forefront pillar for the first time. A policy on ‘inclusive and child-friendly education’ has been implemented.

Harmonised ‘School Improvement Plan’ Guidelines: SIP is a participatory school-community plan developed jointly by school staff, students, parents, and community, to focus their ideas and actions for improving the quality of the school. A harmonised set of SIP guidelines seeking to build on and bring together MoE, with representatives from UNICEF and other bodies.

© U

NIC

EF/

UN

I126

863/

Mad

hok


1918

Biggest challenges to qualityo Provision of basic education: According to the

Afghanistan CO, 55% of schools in Afghanistan still lack buildings, and an estimated 3.5 million children are still out of school, 75% of which are girls. Afghanistan continues to face various challenges in providing basic education, including issues of conflict, security, and mass displacement. Although it is commendable that the national ESP focuses on quality, urgent focus is still needed on access to education for all.

o Lack of textbooks still remains a big issue across the country, and UNICEF has had to print textbooks for community-based schools that do not have access to these materials.

o Lack of government capacity and funding for providing quality education remain issues

o Getting female teachers has proved difficult, which poses a key barrier to girls’ education. To address this, UNICEF has been supporting the ‘Girls Access to Teacher Education’ (GATE) programme, in line with the Government’s drive to recruit female teachers.

o Teacher availability: high teacher-student ratios, shortage of female teachers and all-girls schools, more than half of teachers do not meet qualification standards, and low quality of learning (MTR 2017)

Available evaluationso Baseline survey of Child-friendly Schools in 10

provinces of Afghanistan (2013), carried out by the Society for Sustainable Development of Afghanistan (SSDA), to assess the current status of schools as per the CFS minimum package standard, identify priority areas of improvement, and develop an effective support strategy

o The Assessment of Learning Outcomes and Social Effects (ALSE) is a multi-year (2014-2017) study of community-based education (CBE) in Afghanistan, funded by USAID. ALSE operates as a randomised control trial using mixed quantitative and qualitative outcome assessments and measurements. The evidence produced by the comprehensive multi-year impact evaluation provides ongoing information enabling policymakers to ensure that both girls and boys across Afghanistan have lasting access to a good- quality primary education.

o Assessment for Learning Pre- and Post-Test: Preliminary results show the training to be effective in changing knowledge & attitudes of participants. Anecdotal feedback from government partners and teachers clearly supports Assessment for Learning.

Current UNICEF focus areasCurriculum reform, and development of National Assessment Framework for Afghanistan (NAFA): The Ministry of Education (MoE), with support from development partners is currently undertaking a reform of the primary and secondary national curriculum, as well as the development of a National Assessment Framework for Afghanistan (NAFA). The NAFA aims to provide strategic direction for establishing learning assessment in Afghanistan by 2021 in line with the National Education Strategic Plan (III), with the long-term goal of moving towards a world-class assessment system. UNICEF is providing technical assistance for the development of the NAFA through the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) which is supporting the MoE, as well as providing two National Technical Advisors based in the office of the Deputy Minister of General Education. A Technical Working Group on Learning Assessment was constituted to serve as a steering body for the initiative.

UNICEF’s Key Contributions

o Upstream work in capacity building for effective assessment and curricular development.

o Teacher training programme regarding CFS

o The participatory approach to sector wide planning.

o Providing access to basic education has remained a key focus of UNICEF Afghanistan’s Education Programme, especially for girls and for children in conflict situations through Community-Based Schools and Accelerated Learning Pathways.

2120


BANGLADESHKey recent quality initiatives Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP) 3 and 4: PEDP 3 is a six-year (2011-2017), sector wide programme covering Grades 1 through 5 and one year of pre-primary education (PPE). It aims to establish an efficient, inclusive and equitable primary education system delivering effective and relevant child-friendly learning to all Bangladesh’s children from PPE through Grade 5 primary. UNICEF played a strategic role as the Chair of PEDP3 Development Partners Consortium. PEDP4 (2017-2022) will build on the achievements of PEPD3, with a greater focus on qualitative improvements of classroom practices supported by refined teaching and learning materials.

Each Child Learns (ECL), a flagship initiative under PEDP3, was intended to bring pedagogical changes in primary classrooms

to ensure acquiring foundational literacy and numeracy by each child in grades 1-3. Teachers are trained in ECL through a combination of centre-based training with prolonged classroom practice in different phases. ECL teachers are also taught the importance of focusing their support on the most disadvantaged and marginalised children.

Diploma in Primary Education (DPEd) is an in-service 18 months foundation training course for teachers. UNICEF supported for development of course framework, contents and modules and capacity development of Faculties of National Academy for Primary Education under PEDP-3. The DPEd programme was designed to replace the Certificate-in-Education (C-in-Ed) programme, which did not take an integrated approach to developing teachers’ knowledge and understanding.

School and Classroom Based Assessment (SCBA) Was a UNICEF-supported intervention under PEDP-3 to support strengthening of the assessment system. It involved the development of School/Classroom based Assessment Methods and Tools for 12 subjects during 2012-17. This resource material was developed using as context, the findings of the review of current assessment in Bangladesh supported by UNICEF BCO, which was guided by internationally accepted research on the changing nature of assessment.

Child Friendly School/School Effectiveness training was provided to 3,967 trained cumulatively, and has been a key contribution to improving education quality, by attempting to change the school culture, make the school attractive, and develop the child holistically.

© U

NIC

EF/

UN

0466

91/H

aque


2120

Current UNICEF focus areasUNICEF’s focus will be in the areas of mainstreaming inclusive, Second Chance and alternative education; strengthening professional development of teachers; curriculum and assessment reform; and enhancing early-grade literacy and numeracy. The overall strategy will be ‘whole school’ development, following bottom-up planning and using evidence-based tools such as School Level Improvement Plans, Upazila Primary Education Plans and Child Friendly Schools. Priority also will be given to systematic improvement of evidence-based planning, from school to Ministry level, to universalise primary education. The new PEDP 4 programme (2017-22) will build on the achievements of PEPD3, with a greater focus on qualitative improvements – on the effectiveness of classroom practices and refined teaching and learning materials. PEPD4’s 3 priorities are 1. improving the quality of teaching-learning practices, 2. learning environments that promote universal access and participation, and 3. strong governance, adequate and equitable financing, and good management. Adolescents and secondary education is also an important priority in the new education SWAp.

Biggest challenges to qualityo The quality of education remains a central issue,

with many poorly qualified teachers, inadequate infrastructure, poor nutrition and food security affecting learning. Many schools are overcrowded, and most run double shifts.

o Teacher supervision, monitoring and accountability require particular strengthening

o The CO team felt that the stipend programme perhaps put pressure on teachers to give fake attendance and liberal promotion, and that textbooks are sometimes too complicated for both teachers and students

Available evaluationso The PEDP3 Mid-term Review (2013-14) was a joint

stocktaking by the Government and DPs participating in PEDP3. It included an internal evaluation and 5 independent studies.

o A longitudinal study on the implementation of Each Child Learns was completed by Maxwell Stamps Ltd in 2017. Findings suggested that the implementation of ECL did not progress as originally anticipated, since pedagogic transformation could not be achieved without wider structural changes.

o An Impact Evaluation Study of the ‘Reaching Out of School Children’ (ROSC) Project of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (2014), was conducted by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) the Bangladesh Government.


o Both ECL and DPEd are promising innovations for improving teaching-learning quality, and promoting assessment-based teaching targeted to students’ learning levels.

o The Education programme supported the Government in its efforts to increase effective coverage of pre-primary and primary education, and in achieving significant changes in school completion and drop-out rates.

o UNICEF’s Education interventions in partnership with the Government resulted in positive evidence generation and policies, including studies on out-of-school children, review of the primary education stipends programme, assessment of Each Child Learns, Quality study for PEDP3, and the approval of policy on early childhood development.

o UNICEF’s programme focus and results in recent years were integrally linked to PEDP3 and have contributed to the scale-up of teacher training programmes, the enlarged scope of innovative interventions (Each Child Learns, Second Chance, Activity-based Learning) and the integration of new methods (e.g. School and classroom-based assessment, “Better health Better education” and inclusive education) into ongoing interventions.

2322


BHUTANKey recent quality initiatives Educating for Gross National Happiness (GNH) is a nationwide reform programme initiated by the MoE from 2009-13, for looking at learning from a more holistic perspective, making it more enjoyable and relevant. Training was provided to principals and in-service teachers to infuse GNH, the national philosophy guiding Bhutan’s development. As GNH was all about creating an enabling and a conducive environment for children, Educating for GNH was directly linked to the concept of Child Friendly School (CFS) as a strategy to improve access and quality of education. Another key step that followed was the development of a new GNH-based criteria, indicators, and guidelines for all schools in Bhutan. The CFS indicators were used for monitoring the progress of the Educating for GNH program.

Strengthening Early Childhood Care & Development (ECCD) has been a strong focus of UNICEF Bhutan. UNICEF supported the Ministry of Education in opening ECCD centres in various parts of the country. Special attention was paid to setting minimum quality standards of infrastructure and resources to ensure a safe and conducive learning environment. UNICEF supported in developing a framework for a two-year Diploma course leading to a Degree programme in ECCD, and in developing an ECCD Investment Case Study outlining options with related costs of scaling up ECCD centres effectively and with quality.

Inclusive Education: UNICEF supported the MOE to undertake a ‘knowledge, attitudes and practices’ study on disabilities, and in identifying schools catering for special educational

needs. It also developed standards for inclusive education endorsed by MoE for implementation in schools across the country. In 2016, UNICEF began supporting work towards launching a Masters in Inclusive Education.

Education in Emergencies: UNICEF has also supported in various initiatives for expanding the scope of Disaster Risk Reduction in the country, with a special emphasis on the safety of children with disabilities and young children during disasters. For example, in 2016, UNICEF supported training of 158 non-formal education instructors, ECCD facilitators, teachers and government officials in Education in Emergencies. UNICEF also contributed to the development of an Education Sector Disaster Management (DM) plan that embeds Core Commitments for Children and a contingency plan, and plans to support in rolling out this sector plan.

© U

NIC

EF/

UN

I202

003/

Lope

z


2322

Biggest challenges to qualityo The main challenge facing the education sector

as a whole is how to increase the proportion of students achieving the expected learning outcomes specified for different stages of school education.

o By and large, pedagogy is still based on lecture teaching and rote learning. The country has only 2 teacher training colleges, which are still rather traditional in their pedagogy.

o While Bhutan has adequate number of teachers and sufficient teaching materials, the quality of teachers graduating from their Teacher Training Institutes needs improvement.

o The deployment of trained female teachers to remoter parts of the country is an issue that affects the quality of learning.

o Lack of standard learning outcomes for national assessments

o Parental involvement is very minimal – because education is free, parents feel entitled and take less interest in questioning what is happening in the classroom.

o Lack of accountability: government teachers’ guaranteed job security makes them reluctant to go the extra mile in ensuring quality teaching-learning.

Available evaluationsThe Institute for Management Studies conducted a study on ‘Training on Educating for ‘Gross National Happiness’’ in 2014. The study attempts to gauge the effectiveness of Educating for GNH training, document early signs of positive change in the school and the classroom practices, and identify challenges in the overall implementation of the programme as a school-wide approach for quality education. The assessment reveals that the overall effectiveness of the training is good and has contributed in bringing about a positive behavior change in both the teachers and students. For instance, 71.6% of the teacher respondents report that the training was effective while both the teachers and students (85.59%) said that the programme has brought a positive change on the conduct of the students and on the classroom and school practices of the teachers. However the follow up and support mechanism was rated as just fair, with 47.1% of the teacher respondents reporting it as ineffective.

Current UNICEF focus areaso While UNICEF has already been

supporting the MoE on ECCD initiatives, in the coming years it plans to promote ECCD from both state-funded and UNICEF resources.

o UNICEF is working closely with Teacher Training Colleges, and is supporting launching a Masters in Inclusive Education.

o Although Bhutan has basic schools and materials in place, ensuring learning outcomes is still a relatively unexplored area, and the country has mostly been looking at proxy-indicators of quality like pupil-teacher ratio, internet connectivity, school facilities, with less focus on teaching-learning processes and outcomes. However the government has expressed strong political will around focusing on improving learning quality in its 12th 5-year plan starting in 2018. UNICEF plans to support the government in this area in a more focused manner.


o The CO team pointed out that partly due to UNICEF’s contributions for strengthening ECCD, from 2 ECCD centres in 2008, the country now has 250 centres, providing education to 18% of the early childhood population.

o The country has now opened up 12 schools where children with disabilities can study.

o Pilot School Rationalization initiative for rural education

o In-service teachers training for capacity development, especially for inclusive education.

2524


INDIAKey recent quality initiatives Child-friendly Schools and Systems (CFSS): For the past 15 years, UNICEF has been working to bring in child-friendly principles and practices through its advocacy and work in different dimensions of building quality systems. In 2014, UNICEF India developed CFSS guiding principles along with documentation of best practices from the field. Technical support has been provided for capacity development of education stakeholders as well as for demonstrating model schools in various states.

Activity-based Learning (ABL) is one model found to closely align with CFSS principles. ABL developed in the early 2000s in South Indian government inspired by the NGO Rishi Valley. ABL gained prominence when different DPs including UNICEF began to notice and support it as a promising model for improving

teaching and learning processes. UNICEF has subsequently helped to adapt, pilot and upscale this model in different versions in at least 13 states in India, as a means of promoting child-friendly education. Each state has come up with their own versions of ABL – for example ‘Laher’ in Rajasthan has been able to demonstrate improved learning processes and outcomes for children.

Strengthening performance of teacher support systems: One initiative was Advancement of Educational Performance through Teacher Support (ADEPTS), implementing performance standards and self-assessment for teachers and teacher support institutions. Considerable support has gone in recent years to strengthening education monitoring systems, now termed the Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE). UNICEF provided technical support for implementation of U-DISE as well

as capacity-building in analysis and use of data for improved planning.

Promoting Girls’ Education has been a key area of UNICEF’s work in India. UNICEF has been working closely with the Indian government to strengthen the implementation of special government-run schemes for providing education to girls. UNICEF has facilitated national and regional consultations to develop a Vision and Roadmap for Girls Education, and has supported integration of life skills, vocational awareness, self-defense and physical education into curriculum for girls education.

Sports for Development: UNICEF helped introduce Physical Education Coordinators to promote physical and cognitive development of young children, and worked through community initiatives that led to develop a cadre of community coaches who have emerged as youth leaders to forge community linkages and reduce differences among various groups in the community.

© U

NIC

EF/

UN

I148

460/

Rom

ana


2524

Current UNICEF focus areaso Continuing to strengthen accountability for

learning, including by empowering parents to know and demand learning outcomes appropriate for each class level.

o Helping strengthen systems for conducting, analyzing, and using large scale assessments for feeding back into initiatives to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

o Strengthening teacher education systems and programmes, including restructuring of teacher education systems in states like Odisha and Maharashtra.

o Helping implement classroom-based formative assessment through guidance, research and demonstrations of effective models of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation.

Biggest challenges to qualityo High number of vacancies remain at all levels,

from school and teacher support institutions to senior education institutions.

o Changing priorities and inconsistent strategies with changes in government leadership affect the continuity and long-term vision required for seeing results, especially for changes in teaching and learning quality.

o Challenges in educational governance and teacher management.

Available evaluationso Evaluation of Activity Based Learning

programmes in 7 states (2016), supported by UNICEF and carried out by Educational Initiatives.

o Review of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) in 6 states of India (2016), supported by UNICEF India and carried out by an independent consultant

o Review of Educational Governance in Maharashtra (2017), supported by UNICEF Maharashtra and carried out by an independent consultant on the classroom and school practices of the teachers. However the follow up and support mechanism was rated as just fair, with 47.1% of the teacher respondents reporting it as ineffective.


o It was felt that UNICEF’s biggest contribution: has been to push national and state systems towards seeing child-centred pedagogy as an integral part of quality education.

o UNICEF advocacy has contributed to some extent towards shifting the focus towards learning outcomes – defining them and measuring them, as a necessary step for using learning outcomes as a mark of accountability. In 2017, the government amended its Right to Education Act to ensure that all states define and monitor learning outcomes.

o Evidence generation in areas such as mapping out of school children

o Upstream work linked with downstream community-level initiatives

2726


MALDIVESKey recent quality initiatives Support to the development and implementation of the new national curriculum (implemented in 2015): UNICEF supported in the development and review of the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF) and accompanying materials. Support was provided in 2015 to strengthen the institutional capacity of the National Institute for Education (NIE) to develop clear standards at the end of key stages and for various subjects. UNICEF also supported the NIE in initiating a longitudinal study t

improving education quality in south asia (i)...learning-centred pedagogy could look like for...

Documents